Two petitions approved by Board of Canvassers

Voters may soon be asked to decide whether the state should no longer prohibit recreational marijuana use. Michigan Public Radio's Laura Weber has more.

The state Board of Canvassers has approved the language of a petition that calls for the end of marijuana prohibition for anyone aged 21 years or older.

Matthew Abel is director of Committee for a Safer Michigan, which is leading the petition drive. He says campaign volunteers are incensed by state officials who want to add regulations to the voter-approved medical marijuana law.

"The attorney general and the courts of Michigan have failed to uphold and respect the Michigan medical marijuana law, and that has energized our base immeasurably," he says.

Abel says he thinks ending marijuana prohibition would be just as popular with voters as the medical marijuana law. First the petition drive must collect more than 300,000 valid signatures to get the question on the ballot. If the question is approved, marijuana would still be illegal under federal law.